Former Chilean lieutenant, Deltona resident wanted in killing

An international murder warrant was issued two weeks ago in Chile for Pedro Pablo Barrientos, 64, who served under a dictator, The Associated Press reported.

PATRICIO G. BALONASTAFF WRITER

A former Chilean military lieutenant wanted for murder in his home country is now living in Deltona. An international arrest warrant was issued two weeks ago in Chile for Pedro Pablo Barrientos, 64, who served under a dictator after the country was overthrown in the early 1970s, The Associated Press reported. He is charged in the killing of a singer during an interrogation 40 years ago. Barrientos couldn't be reached for this story, but has denied the charges in news reports. He claimed in a complaint filed last month with law enforcement that the FBI has cleared him in the killing. Barrientos served under dictator Augusto Pinochet, who overthrew the country's democratic government in 1973. Today, Barrientos lives at 1584 Brady Drive in Deltona. Barrientos is the only one of eight former army lieutenants charged in the killing of famous musician Victor Jara who has not been arrested, The Associated Press reported. A Mercedes-Benz sat outside the Deltona home one day this week. No one answered the door during two recent visits to the house near the intersection of busy Saxon Boulevard. But Barrientos recently wanted to speak with Volusia County sheriff's deputies. On Dec. 31, Barrientos filed a report with the Sheriff's Office, claiming he has received death threats by email from another country. In the report, Barrientos said he used to be a lieutenant in the military in Chile. He told deputies that while he was an officer in the military, a famous singer from their country was murdered, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing by FBI agents and Chilean authorities, the report states. FBI Special Agent Jeff Westcott in Jacksonville declined to comment on Barrientos' case and said he couldn't confirm whether FBI agents have spoken to him. Westcott referred questions about Barrientos to the U.S. District Attorney's Office in Tampa. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney, William Daniels, could not be reached for comment.THE OVERTHROW AND KILLING Barrientos is accused of killing Jara in September 1973 after a U.S.-backed Pinochet toppled the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende. Jara was a popular singer, theater director and university professor who was rounded up with his students and tortured inside Estadio (Stadium) Chile, now named the Estadio Victor Jara. Chilean native Roberto Leni, an academic advisor at the University of Southern California, said reports from the time indicated that the butts of guns were used to smash Jara's fingers until they were severed. He was a guitarist. "Victor Jara started a musical movement that helped elect Salvador Allende and his democratic popular unity government," Leni said in a telephone interview. "His songs catapulted people to vote and Allende, a socialist, is the first to get the presidency through the vote in Chile." As part of the torture, Jara was beaten in the head. His body was riddled with at least 44 bullets and dumped on the outskirts of Santiago as a warning to those who challenged Pinochet's rule, Leni said. Leni's father, Hugo, was a political prisoner who was also tortured and beaten, he said. Roberto Leni was in eighth grade when soldiers broke into his home and whisked his father and four older brothers to concentration camps. "Seven or nine of them with their faces painted black, in full gear, with their fingers on the triggers of M-16s stormed through the door and told my mother that she should take the young children out of the house," Leni said in an email. "My mother held my younger brother in her arms, while my little sister and I grabbed onto her dress with stiff fingers and eyes open wide with fear." His family survived the atrocities of Pinochet's dictatorship, but many, like Jara, suffered horrible deaths, Leni said.

MOVEMENT TO ROUND UP SUSPECTS Jara's widow, Joan Jara, last week extended her request to the U.S. government to help Chile extradite Barrientos. The countries do have a mutual extradition treaty in murder cases. In an essay Joan Jara titled "An Unfinished Song," the widow described how the death of her husband affected her. "His clothes were torn, trousers round his ankles, sweater tucked up under his armpits, his blue underpants hanging in tatters round his hips as though cut by a knife or bayonet ... Part of me died at that moment, too," Joan Jara wrote. Joan Jara is being helped by Nelson Caucoto, a human rights lawyer, who is pursuing the extradition on Barrientos. Caucoto has asked the Chilean Supreme Court to direct that country's government to ask the United States to hand over Barrientos, now a U.S. citizen. It is unclear where Barrientos lived in the years after Pinochet was ousted from office. He bought the Deltona home in April of last year for $24,900 in a distress sale, Volusia County Property Appraiser records show. He claims a homestead exemption, making the home his primary residence.

DEADLY DICTATORSHIP During Pinochet's 17-year dictatorship, at least 3,000 people — political prisoners and supporters of Allende — were tortured, murdered or disappeared, Leni said. Leni, whose father spent 1,001 days in prison, believes it is necessary to extradite Barrientos because Pinochet himself was extradited from Spain and brought to Chile for trial. In 1988, Pinochet lost the presidency and became a senator, making him immune from prosecution. But during a trip to London, he was arrested and later in 1998 extradited from Spain to Chile. When he arrived home, authorities in Chile stripped him of his parliamentary immunity and proceedings against him began. Eventually, in July 2001, the Chilean courts decided to suspend the investigation on grounds of "dementia." Pinochet died on Dec. 10, 2006. Many Chileans in the United States and Chile would like to see Pinochet's lieutenant face justice, Leni said. "Just like the United States supported the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, it should listen to the petitions of Chileans so that justice, which has evaded us for 40 years, can finally be done."